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Day 1 – South Bass Trailhead to Tonto above Bass Canyon:

Retreat is not an option, on to Double Surprise Mesa.

Kaiser and I get dropped off at the South Bass Trailhead around 11 am, we have left our exit vehicle at Hermit’s Rest. The thought dawns that neither of us has been shuttled to a trailhead before and we now have no choice but to complete our hike, since backing out or retreating would leave us here without a car. This thought looms large as we slip below the rim on the first few steps of thousands that we will take to cover the next 45+ miles in five days.

We stop briefly to inspect the Anasazi ruins above the Esplanade. Like I did about two years ago, Kaiser would have walked right by them without noticing if I hadn’t pointed them out.

Unbeknownst to us, it appears that this trip will be something of a test for our various gear items, as we encounter our first mishap. At a lunch break prelude to the Redwall descent, Kaiser discovers his 2.5 liter water pouch has sprung a leak. We quickly empty some of the remaining water into the limited capacity we have available, and then give the rest to one of four hikers we encounter on their way out.

Kaiser and I have opposite hiking strengths. Descending takes its toll on his body while I motor down the trail, but conversely he leaves me in the dust during ascents. The going is slow either way, our packs are heavily overburdened with water. We have both tried to haul enough to skip the water at Serpentine tomorrow morning, consumption of which can reputedly lead to digestive issues.

We reach the Tonto Trail junction and climb out of Bass Canyon to begin our long east trending traverse. Up on the Tonto platform at the use area boundary there is a suitable camp and we are exhausted, so we drop our packs with a shrug of relief that we’re done for the day.

There are great views nearby from the lip of the Inner Gorge. The last rays of sunlight illuminate Holy Grail Temple, and we can see Bass Rapids and three separate camps of River rats over 1,000 feet below.

Tonight is my 100th night of backpacking in The Canyon! I lament to Kaiser upon wishing I had brought something to celebrate, then completely surprise him with two cold Tecates from my pockets, beer never tasted better…until we’re finished and then I further shock Kaiser with yet two more cold ones. We enjoy and toast to the celebration, albeit now he’s a little suspicious of how much beer I really was stupid enough to carry down here (4 was all).

Despite this being a dry camp there are many biting bugs around that look like mosquitoes on steroids, and we are grateful for bug spray.

Day 2 – Tonto above Bass Canyon to Le Conte Plateau:

Horny toads and hot humans.

The gods of gear mishaps struck again during the night, Kaiser’s inflatable sleeping pad has sprung a leak. We are on the trail before 8 am, a decent start, but one that we would soon wish had occurred earlier.

There is trickling water upon our arrival at Serpentine Canyon, and it seems we have inadvertently stumbled upon an amphibious mating orgy. There are at least a half dozen pairs of toads in these pools, each pair consists of a smaller toad riding atop a slightly larger one. I’m no biologist but I think it’s safe to say these horny toads are the real deal.

As mentioned earlier, there have been hiker complaints about the quality of this water. I pumped two liters as a precaution and ended up dumping them near Ruby Canyon, but Kaiser did drink a couple filtered liters of this water with no ill effects.

Hiking the Gems between South Bass and Boucher is quite similar to any other stretch of Tonto, constantly contouring in and out of side canyons. At Emerald Canyon there is one small pool of water below the crossing that looks like it won’t last much longer. Continuing on it is getting downright hot as we approach a dry Quartz Canyon.

We hunker down here in the limited shade of a small Tapeats overhang for lunch and then trek on to Ruby Canyon. I stumble upon a very small kingsnake along the way, but it was too quick to get a decent picture. We are physically beat by the time we reach Ruby Canyon, so the sight and sound of flowing water here is a reassuring comfort.

We decide it’s just crazy to continue hiking in this heat and spend a few hours next to the creek, hydrating and waiting for cooler temperatures. After 5 pm enough of The Canyon is in shade to justify moving on, so we head out to Le Conte Plateau. There’s a good campsite near the west end of the plateau where we should have stopped, but instead we adjust to a marginal site further east.

Day 3 – Le Conte Plateau to Tonto above Agate Canyon:

To haul or not to haul? That is the water question.

Learning our lesson from yesterday, we are up drinking hot cocoa and coffee as a crescent moon rises at about 5 am. We are on the trail an hour later and thankful for the ease of cooler hiking. Sunrise gives way to another blessing, partly cloudy skies, and we blaze through Jade and Jasper Canyons (both dry).

Peering into the depths of Turquoise Canyon upon our approach is somewhat unsettling because it appears dry, but we discover two large potholes below the crossing. The water looks greenish after filtering but tastes fine.

Here we have a decision to make, as this could be our last watering hole before camp. Sapphire Canyon is almost 3 miles away, and a glance at my trip notes reveals that seasonal water is “possible” there. By this point we had hoped to cross paths with hikers doing the Gems from east to west and exchange water info, but we haven’t seen anybody. As wet as this winter and spring has been, I’m hunching on the reliability of Sapphire water, but is it worth the risk?

We decide not based on my conservative nature when it comes to water and refill everything at Turquoise. So of course, three much warmer miles later we encounter plenty of clear, flowing water in Sapphire. This is the perfect place for lunch and a siesta. Sapphire sports excellent views of Scorpion Ridge across The River, and also two large ponderosa pines that have no business taking up root way down here at around 3,000 feet of elevation, thousands of feet below their customary rim area strongholds.

After a few hours The Canyon has once again cooled to a hike-able temperature and we resume our trek. Passing through Agate Canyon, someone has placed part of a desert bighorn ram horn atop a boulder, unfortunately other than occasional droppings this will be the only trace of bighorn activity we see on this trip.

The West Tonto Trail through the Gems is easy to lose in places due to multiple trailing, game tracks, and the like, but it is typically just as easy to find again with rudimentary route finding skills. While waiting for Kaiser a few times during this trip he would eventually arrive at my destination from a slightly different route than I had taken.

Near the end of our hike today we lost the trail again in what proved to be a stroke of good fortune as we made our way to the lip of the Tonto northwest of Geikie Peak where there is a fabulous campsite. The stunning full circle views include a down River shot of Agate and Sapphire Rapids.

Day 4 – Tonto above Agate Canyon to Boucher Creek:

Long winged birds and a longer morning hike.

If we “lost” the trail yesterday it wasn’t by much as we’re trekking eastward again at about 6 am this morning, right after a round of hot drinks and another predawn crescent moonrise. By Tonto standards, sections of the trail contouring around Scylla Butte seem somewhat tedious.

Our approach into Slate Canyon reminds me of a poor man’s Grapevine Canyon as it sinks in how long this side canyon will take to hike around. I am certain of finding water here but when we reach the crossing there is only one measly pothole. Realizing we may have to search for water, subtle hydration anxiety creeps in as I wait for Kaiser, and wonder how much water we can scrounge from that slimy pool. I was making so much noise between shedding my pack and tacking off my boots it took me a couple moments of near silence to hear flowing water just upstream of the crossing.

As we filter that water and have a few snacks a pair of California condors soars over the mouth of Slate Canyon, and then pick their way up-canyon along the western Redwall cliffs. We enjoy their aerial show for a good fifteen minutes.

It is a long haul from Slate to Boucher and things are getting warm again. I know that any shady spot between here and there is unlikely for a meal break, so we push for Boucher Creek. When it finally comes into view below there’s no question of stopping before we get down to that cool water.

So while our lunch stop was a little later than usual today, we have already arrived at our intended destination. Neither of us can recall ever hiking ten miles before lunch. We set up camp above the creek near the junction with Topaz Canyon, and lounge around for a bit.

With so much time on our hands now, we stroll down the creek a mile or so to Boucher Rapids. The River is muddy, swollen, and the boiling rapids look intimidating. To us these rapids appear slightly less formidable than Hermit Rapids just up-River, but that’s based on our memories from over two years ago. Either way, it’s an impressive sight.

We had hoped to catch some River rats in action but after about an hour we decide to leisurely walk back alongside Boucher Creek. It’s nice to be near the creek and have a wet camp for the first time on this trip, and we enjoy the extra water with some cocktails.

Day 5 – Boucher Creek to overlook below Yuma Point:

The Foolish Foursome and Tornado Point.

This morning was rough on me. At first light I fly out of my tent and scramble up the hill away from the creek for an urgent intestinal requirement. The deed done I am dismayed to discover that in my hasty quest for relief I have forgotten my TP supply. Hope some of these rocks are smoother than they look…Back in camp recovering, one of those steroid juiced mosquitoes bites me on the forehead. I ask Kaiser how it looks and he laughs as the bite area has swollen to the size of a quarter, my own personal unwanted third eye. As we pump water for the hike up, my filter’s intake valve fails, something I could fix with time and patience but Kaiser’s filter is working fine. Finally ready to strap up and go, but then the zipper breaks on my backpack’s top pouch. So, yeah, I’ve had better backcountry mornings.

Most of the hiking we have left is uphill so I tell Kaiser to take the lead, telling him to be sure and turn right at the Tonto junction. A bit later I look up to see him heading north on the Tonto away from Boucher Trail. He took a left at the junction. I holler him back to where he missed the turn and onto the correct trail.

Early into the Redwall ascent we pass a foursome of a 12 year old kid, his parents, and an older guy in good shape who appears to be “leading” them. From first glance the parents look perhaps overmatched for Boucher and are literally inching up the trail. At least it’s shady now, but they got a late start for their hiking speed. I ask the father if they’re going all the way out today, he responds, “we’re gonna try.”

Further up I accidentally sidetrack onto a spur trail but correct my error quickly. Looking back I see some guy running up the trail. In our short chat as he whizzes by me I learn he’s just doing a day-hike from Hermit. Oh sure, just a leisurely 22 mile run through The Canyon along trails that receive little to no maintenance. One final note on the ascent out of Boucher Canyon, we are unaware of any names for the upper portion of that Redwall ascent, but Satan’s Staircase seems appropriate for all of the “step-ups.”

We pass over into Travertine Canyon and take a long lunch break in the shade at the base of the Supai ascent. Eventually the foursome from earlier passes us but we quickly overtake them again where they are resting about halfway up the ascent. The parents look exhausted and we can’t tell how heavy the kid’s pack is, but it looks big.

Atop the Supai we sprawl out on a large boulder, comfortably shirtless to let our sweat dry in the warm sun. An hour later it’s snowing in a freak windstorm! Here’s how it went down – Just before reaching the camp at the overlook below Yuma Point it started sprinkling and getting a little windy. As we hustle to set up tents, fearsome winds simply take over our camp. We can barely hold our tents in place to secure them, I gather about six large rocks in my tent, each weighing about ten pounds. The wind blows so hard the tent bottom picks up and literally flips these rocks over. Kaiser similarly puts rocks in his tent and still the wind power alone moves his tent three feet closer to the abyss.

Each of us get in our tents and brace against the wind with packs and bodies. Though our tents are very close to each other we must yell to communicate, then it starts raining hard. My rain fly is not secured so I brave the elements for a couple minutes to frantically keep my tent dry. The rain has turned to snow and it is blowing crazy sideways. We endure these conditions for about an hour with the rain/snow mix letting up more than the gusts, both of us agreeing instantly that we’ve never seen or felt more severe winds.

The storm lets up enough to invite Kaiser over to my tent for a cocktail, just as we’re getting comfy it looks all clear outside so we venture out hoping the worst is over. It’s a short but welcome respite as the views of all the snow topped buttes throughout The Canyon are astounding. We’re treated to a half hour of visual bliss before snowfall circles back in and chases us to our tents.

Later another short storm break after nightfall allows us just enough time to prepare hot drinks and meals outside. The timing was perfect, as dinner ends the storm resumes and remains throughout the night.

Day 6 – Overlook below Yuma Point to Hermit’s Rest:

A delayed Hermit’s “rest” for overdue hikers.

We emerge from our tents in the morning to a frosty, icy, April Canyon winterland. Though we don’t need it, every pothole around is filled with water. Unwilling to escape The Canyon just yet, we soak up some sunrise and delay departure.

Kaiser is concerned about the foursome of hikers we passed yesterday. Forced to spend so much time in our tents we have no idea if they hunkered down for that storm or passed us by and hiked through it. Perhaps we could have hiked back to look for them, but without knowing if they had already passed by, how far back should we hike? One thing is for certain, if they continued trekking through that storm, the wind could have made it very dangerous.

The hike out passes without incident, except noting that there are no footsteps from the four hikers. We learn why at Hermit’s Rest. A Ranger is stationed at the trailhead parking area and reports that the foursome is an overdue group. We give him all the information we can – last sighting, time of sighting, descriptions, etc. and hope for the best.

Kaiser would later phone the SAR coordinator and discover they had hunkered down along the trail for the storm. Shortly after we exited, some Rangers descended the trail to eventually find the group successfully and assist in hauling out them and their gear.

To see more photos from this trip click here.